Action

On 13 November two activists in Sudan are due to stand trial for ‘indecent behaviour’. They are at risk of imprisonment or flogging.

On 21 October Najlaa Mohammed Ali and Amin Senada were arrested by members of Sudan’s police and security forces who raided their car in Port Sudan. Najlaa Mohammed Ali, a lawyer and human rights activist, she met with Amin Senada, also an activist, to discuss the planning of a workshop. After their meeting, both of them got into the car that Najlaa Mohammed Ali had used to get to their meeting point. During the journey, their driver received a phone call and stopped the car to answer it. Minutes later two armed men came to the vehicle claiming to be from Sudan’s Public Order Police. After that another six men from the police and security forces joined them. They accused Amin Senada of placing his hand on Najlaa’s shoulder and ordered them to come with them to the Police Public Order Department. They threatened to take them by force if they refused to comply.

As we speak, a resolution is being negotiated at the General Assembly in New York on the protection of women human rights defenders (WHRDs). This is the first time women defenders have been the focus of a draft resolution at the United Nations. Such an initiative is the result of activists’ work over many years raising awareness about the challenges, risks and attacks faced by women human rights defenders and their specific protection needs. The resolution would provide much needed recognition of WHRDs and their work, and would be an important tool in urging States to create enabling environments in which WHRDs can carry out their activities, free from intimidation, threats or attacks.

The groups here listed are deeply concerned by the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam’s announcement of a new penal code based on a strict interpretation of Shari’a law. We add our voices to the growing concerns of the international community that this move towards stricter Shari’a law demonstrates a disturbing disregard of basic civil and political rights of the people of Brunei.

Stoning as a cruel form of punishment and discrimination against women

Women’s rights organisations are particularly concerned that the new penal code includes stoning as a punishment for the crime of adultery. There are 15 countries in which stoning is either practised, legalised, or both, and if this law comes into effect, Brunei will be the sixteenth.

Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and the Violence is Not Our Culture Campaign (VNC) strongly condemn the conviction of two Saudi Arabian women's rights activists, Wajeha Al-Huwaider and Fawzia Al-Oyouni, for the crime of takhbib, or incitement of a wife to defy her husband. Wajeha Al-Huwaider and Fawzia Al-Oyouni have been long time campaigners for women's rights in Saudi Arabia; they pioneered the Women2Drive campaign - a campaign for Saudi women to be allowed to drive - in addition to offering support to women victims of domestic abuse.

In June 2011 Ms Al-Huwaider and Ms Al-Oyouni responded to a call for help from a woman attempting to flee her husband, after the woman reported that he had been abusing her. The wife is a Canadian citizen married to a Saudi national and had asked the women to meet her at her home to help her get to the Canadian Embassy. When they arrived, it became clear that the husband had used his wife's cell phone to trick Ms Al-Huwaider and Ms Al-Oyouni into coming at that time and had arranged for the police to be there. After the original charges of kidnap were dropped in 2011, the women were charged again on the 15th of June 2013, this time with takhbib and sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and two-year travel bans. They appealed their conviction, but the sentence was upheld.

Our Sudanese allies have come together to denounce the violence perpetrated by the Sudanese government. Below you will find their message and petition. Please sign and circulate widely amongst your respective networks.

September 2013 saw hoards of people taking to the streets of Sudan in protest, sparked by the government’s lift on fuel subsidies in the already impoverished country. Sudanese police and intelligence forces shot more than two hundred people dead. The fact that the authorities’ guns were aimed at people’s chests and heads indicates that the aim was to "shoot to kill."

On Monday October 21st Elsafie DafAllah and Hyatham Karar will hold a hunger strike in front of the White House (October 21st-25th).

Equality Now has been monitoring multiple cases of Kenyan girls running away from their homes or avoiding going home from school during holidays to escape female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage, particularly during the August and December school holidays when mass mutilations are performed. The Pokot region, especially, has had a high number of reports of girls running away from home or refusing to return home from school. Despite the existence of Kenyan laws against FGM and child marriage, it is clear that they are not being implemented in the region to protect girls.

WLUML has been shocked to learn that there are two individuals at imminent risk of execution by stoning in Iran. In 2012, Zahra Pour Sai and Ali Sai Bashsiz were tried in Tabriz (Iranian Azerbaijan) court, convicted of Zina (adultery), and sentenced to death by stoning. They appealed their convictions, but the appeal was refused and the verdict was confirmed by Branch 7 of the Supreme Court. It is now feared that they are at imminent risk of death by stoning.

WLUML would like to thank everyone who has supported our global Stop Stoning Women campaign – thanks to you we are nearing our goal and have now reached 8691 signaturesfrom supporters worldwide!

Our aim is to reach a critical mass of 10,000 signatures so that we can send a strong, unified message to the UN and push for a resolution on stoning and the eradication of this brutal practice that disproportionately targets women, ongoing in 15 countries around the world.

Today we are launching an exciting new campaign in order to spread the word on this continuing form of torture and violence against women, and to share your unique thoughts and voices with all of our followers - please support the Who Cares About Stoning? I do photography campaign!